Addressing publishing barriers with OJS as an undergraduate student

-- A student perspective by Famira Racy

More than a decade ago, I remember sitting in class, trying to keep up with all the lecture slides on research studies. You know, the slides where the professor tells you what the study was about, methods, findings, and what you needed to know for the exam... I remember almost nodding off a few times thinking, ‘wake me when they get to the good stuff.’

The good stuff (or the bad stuff, really) came when my psychology professor started talking about controversies in publishing. To paraphrase, ‘Did you know that some prominent journals will only publish positive results confirming hypotheses?’

Negative results that refute hypotheses are often left in the dust without a trace. A researcher comes along, thinks, ‘oh this hasn’t been tried, I’m going to try it!’ If the approach fails, they bury their results, leaving other researchers to enter the same vicious, resource sucking cycle.

Students’ eyes lit up in shock as our professor spoke about ‘publication bias’, further describing the fact that some scientists will ‘cherry pick’ their results to get the funding they need, or to get published so they can advance their careers.

In a stats class, another professor spoke about how scientists faking their results (in order to be published) put people in danger and even got people killed because the science behind the practice was not sound.

All in the name of quantity, not quality, equity, or fair science. Faster, better, smarter... the pressure for positive results, funding, career advancement, and prestige became more evident to me.

On top of all this, citizen researchers and non-academics who make large impacts on practice usually had to pay for access to (potentially faulty) research.

This was when I truly started learning about the state of research, publishing, promotion, knowledge creation, and dissemination in and out of academia...?and that there was something I could do about it, even as an undergraduate student.

This was when I truly started learning about the state of research, publishing, promotion, knowledge creation, and dissemination in and out of academia...?and that there was something I could do about it, even as an undergraduate student. ????

Disturbed by the impacts of these controversies, I chatted with some students, and one of them knew of an opportunity to start our own journal if we wanted. This was when I first heard of Public Knowledge Project's (PKP) Open Journal Systems (OJS).

I nervously made my way to the digital initiatives librarian with my list of questions on how to get started, and found that I was right at home... Could our journal be open access (no fees) to readers and authors? Yes! Could we implement rigorous scholarship standards, like prestigious journals? Yes!

Could we request data from our authors in order to check for publication biases? Yes! Could we implement our own diversity and inclusion policies and procedures? Of course! How about the learning curve... did PKP have any resources to help? YES!

Students wouldn’t have to wait until completing a PhD to learn about publishing, AND we could help raise awareness of the open access movement. I got to work, finding that the journal management system was super user friendly -- basically plug and play.

The ‘help’ feature was loaded to the brim with how-to advice on management, editorial, and publishing processes. I was never on my own, and whether through the PKP or OJS resources, or the digital initiatives librarian, our team always had what we needed.

Gaining this knowledge and motivation inspired conversations with professors, increased my networking confidence, and gave me a sense of purpose. I would help students have a voice, professionally develop, set up symposiums, publish, and learn to overcome barriers in scholarly publishing.

The Behavioural Sciences Undergraduate Journal (BSUJ) was born. In the 3 years that I was Editor, we published 2 special issues, hosted 3 symposiums and more than 10 workshops, and gained more than 3000 views internationally. Students’ work was cited by researchers in and out of academia... a dream come true.

The BSUJ published another issue after I stepped down as editor, and is currently attempting to navigate publishing during the pandemic, and journal continuance after graduation. Now, PKP is partnering with universities across Canada on the Student Journal Forum, an upcoming open 2 day event designed to help students with these very issues.?

I encourage students to check out their libraries for an OJS opportunity. This continues to be a life-changing experience -- it’s about more than getting into grad school or making the next big discovery -- it’s about gaining a purpose, giving a voice, and joining the open access movement.

I encourage students to check out their libraries for an OJS opportunity. This continues to be a life-changing experience -- it’s about more than getting into grad school or making the next big discovery -- it’s about gaining a purpose, giving a voice, and joining the open access movement.

Transparency statement: Famira Racy is an independent contractor working with PKP to help raise awareness of the open access movement.

Famira Racy, pictured here, is a graduate of Adler University (MA, Industrial Organizational Psychology), and a psychology of the self researcher who also coaches students on research, writing, and publishing, as well as personal and professional development. [email protected]